The group of four quickly gained time over Armstrong and Bradley Wiggins, who neutralised each other; Wiggins did not want to bring Armstrong back into the race and Armstrong was in the same predicament.

With Contador’s team-mate Kloden still well-placed overall, the Spaniard attacked with a short burst on the Col de la Colombière. The German was distanced, although the Schlecks remained in contact, illustrating the almost total lack of unity within the Astana team.

Indeed, when Contador punctured earlier in the stage, he had just one team-mate to help him back into the lead-group, almost unthinkable for the maillot jaune.

Meanwhile, further down the mountain, Armstrong sprinted away from Wiggins and quickly distanced the Briton, demonstrating how serious a threat the Garmin rider has become to the Astana team’s stranglehold over the general classification.

Commanding a lead of over two minutes over Kloden, Armstrong and Wiggins, the leading trio of the Schleck brothers and Contador appeared to make an agreement amongst themselves; one of the brothers to take the stage, whilst Contador was content just to gain time, refusing to pull on the front.

With Andy Schleck moving into second position overall and already bearing the white young riders’ jersey, it was decided that Frank would take the stage, his second after winning on Alpe d’Huez in 2006.

The Schleck brothers gained enough time to move them into second and third overall, whilst Armstrong and Wiggins dropped to fourth and sixth respectively.

For Wiggins and Armstrong, both strong time triallists, their podium chances were not completely ruined today, but with a further two days in the mountains before the race reaches Paris, the Schlecks look increasingly likely to fill the podium behind Contador.

Hushovd moving towards greenWhilst Contador was strengthening his lead overall, Thor Hushovd did the same in the green jersey competition.

In a highly unusual move for a contender for the green jersey, the Norwegian escaped early on with a group of 20 stage hopefuls.

Deciding that the pace was not quite fast enough, Hushovd attacked to ride alone, collecting both intermediate sprints on offer today and now has a lead of 30 points over his nearest adversary, Mark Cavendish.

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